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The new POLYPROBLEM Report of the Röchling Foundation and Wider Sense TREASURE HUNT Faults and Flaws of the Recycling Market … AND A GLIMPSE INTO A POSSIBLE FUTURE The market for recycled plastics is broken - this is the central finding of the latest POLYPROBLEM topic report. “Treasure Hunt” is the second POLYRPOBLEM topic report of this year. This time, the report was conducted in cooperation with cirplus. Its goal is to not only summarize the situation regarding the recycling of plastics, but also to analyze the reasons that currently cause the plastics cycle to fail and to provide possible solutions for politics and industry. Annually, nearly 400 million tons of plastic are currently produced worldwide. However, less than ten percent consist of recycled material. Hence, it is still a long way to a properly functioning recycling industry. At first glance, the situation appears paradox: recycling companies complain about a lack of sales opportunities. At the same time, product manufacturers and plastics processors complain about a shortage of recyclates sufficient in quantity and quality. Supply and demand do not meet. In discussion with leading experts from business and science, this POLYPROBLEM topic report gets to the bottom of the [...]

The POLYPROBLEM Report of the Röchling Foundation and Wider Sense The Waste of Others About the responsibility for the flood of plastic in Asia   More than half of the plastic waste in the oceans is released into the environment from five Asian countries. And this despite the fact that the emerging and developing countries use much less plastic per capita of their population than the industrialized nations. The reason for the massive emissions is the predominantly inadequate waste management systems in the Global South. The new POLYPROBLEM Report by the Röchling Foundation and Wider Sense takes a close look at the omissions and opportunities. International comparative figures show it clearly: With increasing prosperity, the consumption of plastics is rising. However, waste management in developing regions is not growing at the same pace. If this development continues and the gap widens, the world will only be at the beginning of the plastic problem – regardless of the enormous public attention to the subject. In their new POLYPROBLEM Report “THE WASTE OF OTHERS”, the non-profit Röchling Foundation and the consulting firm Wider Sense have comprehensively examined why it has not yet been possible to establish a nationwide waste management system [...]